So I received the Cooks Illustrated cookbook for Christmas. Love it. I'm filled to the brim with ideas from it.

Last night I made the Gorgonzola cream sauce for our whole wheat pasta. The flavor was outstanding, but it never thickened up one bit except when it cooled off. The ingredients and measures were just as specified (heavy cream, a little wine and the cheese), but even after double the noted cooking time I still had something the same thickness of the cream/wine mixture.

Any ideas where I might have gone wrong, or is it supposed to be thin?

Talk less, smile more. Don't let them know what you're against or what you're for.

Heavy cream should thicken as it boils, David, but maybe ultra-pasteurization works against that in some way? If nobody was looking, I might have cheated and stirred in a little cornstarch or arrowroot.

I never thought of using this sauce for pasta, but I've used it to lace pork and vegetables and whenever I serve it to guests, I'm always asked for the recipe. It is nice and creamy, with just the right amount of thickness that would work well to cling to pasta. From Saveur magazine:

Bring vermouth to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced by half (about 7 minutes). Add cream and return to a boil. Reduce sauce by about 1/3 (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat, whisk in cheese and season with pepper. Keep warm.

"...To undersalt deliberately in the name of dietary chic is to omit from the music of cookery the indispensable bass line over which all tastes and smells form their harmonies." -- Robert Farrar Capon

I have no issue with the taste of a gorg sauce, but I do have an aesthetic issue with the visual aspect as it usually looks like unappetizing blue wall paper paste (except in David's case, where I guess it would look like unappetizing blue gruel). I always toss something a bit more scenic in there - sometimes as simple as a sprinkle of chopped parsley or even Parmesan to lighten the appearance a bit. I've also used shaved almonds or walnuts as they mate flavours well with the cheese.

David, you could always cheat and shorten the time for thickening by adding a tsp of arrowroot or cornstarch....